Chapter 105: Chapter 105
Chapter 105
"You do know that you are at fault, right?" Tom asked with a frown on his face, his arms crossed firmly across his chest.
"Me? The hell did I do?" Lyra asked, her own frown deepening.
"What else? You let them escape!" Tom clapped back, his voice carrying a trace of mild anger.
"Me? I let them escape? Or did you? You were literally closer to the hat dude and you couldn’t even stop him before he vanished." Lyra snapped, her eyes narrowing in frustration.
"But you were practically leaning closer, and from the way it looked, I thought you might actually sneak in to steal a kiss." Tom said as he scoffed and tossed his head to the side.
"Me? Sneak a kiss? How dare you?! I haven’t even kissed the opposite gender before, and you’re saying I wanted to?" Lyra’s brows furrowed in absolute disbelief.
"That’s exactly why you were leaning so close. You wanted to sneak that kiss and finally feel what it means for two lips to connect." Tom replied with a cheeky grin plastered on his face.
"I will kill you!" Lyra shouted, bolting straight at Tom in a burst of rage.
Within seconds, the weapon shop turned into a chaotic playground as the two Reavers began running around, chasing each other in circles. The kids stood frozen in place, blinking rapidly at the ridiculous exchange.
"Kids." They all groaned in unison, unable to believe what they were witnessing.
"How should we stop their lover banter?" Aria asked dryly, watching the pair with folded arms.
"I have an idea. How about I shoot one of them with a lightning bolt?" Vynn said with a grin stretching from ear to ear as sparks began crackling around his hands.
"Right. Do that." Zen nodded seriously, then smirked. "But before you do, kindly tell me your favourite color."
"Why do you ask?" Vynn asked, raising a suspicious eyebrow.
"Just answer the question." Zen scoffed, rolling his eyes.
"Fine. Blue. Because of my Veil, which is a blue lightning." Vynn replied.
"Great. Then I’ll make sure your coffin comes in that color, because once you release that lightning bolt, I guarantee your head will be rolling on the ground the very next second." Zen scoffed coldly.
"Tch. Idiot." Vynn muttered, scoffing back.
"Alright kids, stop bickering and acting childish. Listen up." Lyra suddenly shouted like a drill sergeant, cutting their banter short after she had finally grown tired of chasing Tom.
"Acting childish?" The kids muttered in unison as they gave her blank looks. All of them recalled clearly how the crimson-haired woman had been running around seconds ago, chasing Tom like a first grader.
’Yup. She’s nuts.’ They all thought inwardly at the same time.
"You all let them escape right under your noses, but that’s not an issue. We’ll head back to the inn, get some rest, and tomorrow we double our efforts to hunt these bastards down." Lyra declared, her fist clenched tightly with fierce determination.
"Hunt them down? What about the A-ranked beast? Aren’t we going to find it too?" Vynn asked with his brow arched.
"Well, I ha..."
"I have a feeling the A-ranked beast is connected to these guys. There’s no way it’s just a coincidence that they showed up here in this town and within the same week, an A-ranked beast also appeared." Tom cut her off, shaking his head.
"I was just about to say the same thing!" Lyra snapped back angrily, scowling at the B-ranked Reaver.
"Well too bad you were slow, slowpoke." Tom snarled, flashing a smirk.
"I’m your senior, damn it!" Lyra shouted, her voice sharp and commanding.
"And I’m called the strongest B-ranked Reaver ever." Tom fired back with equal intensity.
"No one calls you that." Lyra said, her brows knitting in irritation.
"And no one calls you the warmongress either." Tom clapped back with a sly grin.
"Yes they do!" Lyra shouted without hesitation, stomping her foot as if to add emphasis.
"No, they don’t." Tom shot back, equally matching her energy as the two kept on bickering and battering each other with words. Meanwhile, the kids, as usual, stood by and watched with blank expressions plastered on their faces.
"Someone needs to tell them how childish they look." Jace whispered toward the others, his lips twitching slightly.
"You’re a B-ranked Reaver now, right? Go ahead and be our guest." Zen whispered back with a faint smirk.
"Uhm... what about my shop?" the shopkeeper asked nervously, raising his hand slightly as if asking for permission to speak.
Instantly, the bickering duo turned their glares on him, their faces darkening with identical frowns.
"Shut the hell up!" they both roared in unison before snapping their heads back to glare at each other again.
The poor shopkeeper shrank back, his lips trembling, his eyes moist with frustration.
’I just needed the money to fix my damaged shop back,’ he thought bitterly, clenching his fists by his side.
"Alright, lovers," Jace said suddenly, clapping his hands loudly to grab attention.
The sound broke through their argument, and both Lyra and Tom snapped their eyes toward him at once, yelling together, "We aren’t lovers and will never be!"
"Ever!" they emphasized in perfect unison.
"Yeah, sure. Because you both are acting exactly like lovers right now." Zen scoffed as he strolled closer. He folded his arms, his expression flat, then spoke before Lyra could fire back.
"I just want to know how we’re supposed to track these guys tomorrow. It’s late, and by the time we get back to the inn, there won’t be time to plan anything properly. I don’t know about you all, but I feel dead tired already."
"My best bet? They’re either hiding somewhere in the town—probably in an inn or they’re outside the walls, maybe holed up in a cave or some hideout." Tom replied casually with a shrug, as if the answer were obvious.
Lyra let out a long sigh, shaking her head.
"Yeah, sure. Because they’re cavemen, right? That’s why they should be staying in a cave."
"Why, you..." Tom started, but his words were cut short.
"Enough, you two! Stop acting like kids and grow up already!" Aria burst out, unable to hold back her irritation.
"Did you jus..." Lyra began.
"Yes! Grow up, damn it! My ears are bleeding because of your constant bickering!" Zen shouted too, clearly having reached his limit with the noise.
"You know what? Let’s just head back to the inn, plan whatever we’re doing tomorrow, and maybe get some actual sleep." Jace yawned loudly as he turned and started walking out of the shop.
Vynn followed immediately, with Aria trailing behind and Zen bringing up the rear, leaving the two senior Reavers behind.
"I think they’re right." Tom muttered under his breath after a moment of silence.
"About which part?" Lyra asked, one brow raised. "The growing up, or the getting some rest?"
"The getting a rest, dumbass." Tom scoffed as he walked past her and toward the shopkeeper.
He dropped a pouch filled with shards on the counter with a small thud. "Sorry for destroying your shop. I hope this is enough to cover the cost." He gave the man a slight bow before turning away.
Luckily, when Jace had buzzed them earlier, he had also reminded them to bring extra shards, mentioning that they had accidentally damaged a shop. Tom, prepared for this moment, had kept the pouch ready.
And with that, the duo finally exited the shop together, their footsteps echoing against the wooden floor before fading into the night outside.